


(You are) The greatest thing that ever happened to me

by Tabata



Series: Leoverse [30]
Category: Glee
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-27 07:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18191480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabata/pseuds/Tabata
Summary: The first time Timmy meets Alex, he's six and Alex is the first thing that makes him believe his life is actually becoming something stable. Twenty years later, Alex does something that definitely confirms that.





	(You are) The greatest thing that ever happened to me

**Author's Note:**

> **WARNING:** This story is a **spin-off sequel** for Broken Heart Syndrome. This means that, despite not being properly set after BHS (but that's only because BHS is probably never going to have a proper ending and we'll keep talking about these people forever), it depicts things happening way late in the 'verse, and that may be on varying degrees of spoiler.  
> At some point in canon Timmy and Alex became a thing because Alex, like his father Cody, is something you can't rest your eyes upon without immediately falling in love with him. So, after spending ten years going back and forth between Italy and the United States, Alex is currently studying in New York and Timmy is working on Vince's new farm in Ohio. And they are, finally, together.
> 
> written for: COW-T#9  
> prompt: parity

The first time Timmy meets Alex is in their new house in Lima.

The house is not that new at that point – they have lived there for more than two years – but things have been pretty hectic with Leo being ill and his father dividing himself between him and his job in New York, and so Timmy hasn't had the time to really settle in. Since his life changes a little bit more every day, he always has the impression that everything is still temporary and that he and his father and Leo are still living in _extraordinary circumstances_. Alex is the first thing that makes him believe his life is actually becoming something stable.

Leo has been very ill for a very long long time. His head is very confused and it makes him see, think and say some things that aren't really true. That's how his father explained Timmy the way Leo was acting sometimes when they first moved to Lima. Timmy remembers everything very clearly because he was present most of the time and, when he was not because his father would send him to his room, he would still hears the screams and them arguing and saying horrible things to each other.

The first few months they were living in the new house, Timmy didn't like Leo very much. Despite what his father said, Timmy didn't remember him from before. Leo was supposed to be _Dad's friend_ who had played with him sometimes when he was a baby and they lived in Westerville, but Timmy had no memory of that, maybe because he had been too young back then or maybe because Leo was nothing like his father described him. First of all, he was very mean. He would always say bad things to him or his father. And the worst things he wouldn't say screaming but in a hushed voice. Sometimes Timmy didn't know all the words Leo said, but he understood they were bad things because his father would turn very pale and very sad.

When Leo screamed, instead, it didn't matter what he was saying because he was always terrifying. He looked very angry and he slammed the doors and threw things at his father. He broke something almost every day. Timmy remembers one day in particular. Leo was supposed to be at the doctor's office. His father had asked him – pleaded him – to go and see her and listened to her. Leo had said yes right away and Timmy hadn't believed him. He was a kid and he didn't understand many of the things that were happening in those days, but he didn't trust Leo when he didn't fight. Since Leo had come to live with them, he had said no to everything his father had proposed to him or asked him to do. It was always no, no, no. Then, maybe, he would end up doing some of the things he had been asked to do, but only after refusing first. So when his father asked him to go to the doctor and Leo said yes, Timmy didn't trust him.

Later Timmy and his father were playing with toy cars in the living room and Leo had come back. He moved funny and he couldn't finish his sentences. He laughed a lot, but in a bad way. His father told him that Leo wasn't _feeling very well_ , but Timmy knew he was drunk. He was supposed to go in his room and he was going, but he didn't move fast enough. The glass almost hit him in the face. Leo had brought him back with him from the bar and had _offered_ it to Timmy mockingly, saying “Isn't he old enough to drink, your precious offspring?”

Timmy had been so scared then that he couldn't find the strength to move. The glass had crashed against the wall and now there was a pool of stinky beer all over the floor. His father had picked him up, telling Leo that he was bad, and he had brought him to his room while Leo kept screaming at them from downstairs. It had been an horrible night, that one, and Timmy is still a little bit upset when he thinks about it, even if that was not the worst thing Leo has ever done to him. The wardrobe incident still wins first place.

Later Leo really got a little better. He stopped screaming, drinking and fighting all the time, and he started taking his medicines – a lot of colorful pills that he's still taking and that he keeps in a box on his nightstand – which made him calmer and his father a little happier. But he was tired all the time and sometimes he would sleep all day, not even coming out of his room for dinner. His father would tell Timmy to be very quiet and try not to disturb him, because he needed to rest to be well again. For months on end the house had been this silent place where they would make as little noise as possible and they would speak and play quietly because more often than not Leo was sleeping or had an headache. It was like walking on eggshells, and Timmy knew a house and a family – because he had seen the way his dad and Leo looked at each other and he knew there was something they weren't say to him, something like being boyfriends – weren't supposed to be like that. It was just another temporary arrangement, that was how his father had explained the whole situation to his grandpa and grandma over the phone, just a different one.

Nowadays Leo is pretty much fine. He's still a little confused – and he doesn't like to go out a lot if Timmy's dad is not with him – but he's not mean anymore and, unless he's really tired or in a very bad mood, he always plays with Timmy and that is fun. Leo knows a lot of super funny games and he really knows how to read stories. Sometimes, if he feels like it, he even does all the different voices. He is funny to be around. But even now that things are looking up, it's always only the three of them in the house. It's like a little perfect world his father has created to make Leo feel better, with its own rules and its own habits that are different from every other _normal_ home. They don't even receive many visits – except for Tana – who's Leo's sister and Timmy's best friend – because Leo says he doesn't feel ready to see other people. That is why Alex coming to his house is such a big deal. It makes everything a little more normal.

In the beginning Timmy doesn't know Alex is going to be there. In fact, he doesn't even know Alex's parents and he certainly doesn't know they have a son. His father only tells him one of Leo's oldest friends is coming to visit and that he and his family are going to have dinner with them, but that's enough to make Timmy excited. He's not exactly a kid who likes people, but he can work with the distraction every once in a while. Especially if he hasn't seen anyone in weeks except his schoolmates. Besides, his father has cleaned up the whole house and Leo felt good enough to make not one but two chocolate cakes, so there's a festive air in the house. It almost feels like Christmas.

Leo's friend is called Cody – he's tiny and cute and he looks like a fairy tale princess – and his husband's name is Vince. Initially they are the only two people Timmy can see when his father opens the door to let them in. There's a weird moment Timmy can't understand when Leo hugs his friend. Leo hugs him very very tight and he doesn't let him go for a long time. Timmy would certainly investigate – he loves to understands things – but something catches his attention more than a very long hug does. Behind the huge mountain of a man that is Vince, there's a small child. Timmy thinks he must be one or two, because he can barely stand and Timmy can see that he's still wearing his diaper under his pants. He's got black hair and blue eyes like his father; in fact he seems like a tiny version of him as Timmy has never been a version of his dad, because he's so blonde that everybody knows he's adopted.

The kid looks very shy. He watches Timmy attentively, though, from behind Vince, holding tightly to one of his father's legs, the thumb of his free hand stuffed in his mouth. “Who is he?” Timmy asks, pointing at the kid. Nobody is making any introduction but Timmy thinks they should.

“This is our son, Alessandro,” Cody says to him, crouching to be eye-level with him. Timmy is almost six, but he still needs him to do that. “But you can call him Alex. Alex, do you wanna say hi?”

Alex stares at him for a very long time, almost as if he was deciding if Timmy is worth the effort of saying hello. Timmy can understand, he does that too. Eventually, he takes the thumb out of his mouth with a popping sound and says, “Ciao.”

Timmy wasn't expecting that. His father told him that Leo's friend live in Italy, but he wasn't expecting the kid to speak another language, mostly because his father hasn't so far. Cody chuckles. “Can you say it in English? Timmy can't understand you.”

Sighing, Alex takes the thumb out of his mouth for the second time, and here it goes the popping sound again. “Hello,” he says.

“Hi, I'm Timmy.” Timmy keeps looking at him, but he asks Cody, “And how old is he?”

But it's Alex who answers. “Two,” he says, this time in English right from the start and showing two tiny fingers at him. Everybody laughs, even though Timmy doesn't really get why they do. Sometimes grown-ups find funny the weirdest things. Anyways, he feels like this day is going to be a boring one if he doesn't do something. Leo and Cody are already sitting on the couch, talking about when they were still in school and his dad is talking with Vince about their trip from Italy. Vince is still standing because Alex hasn't let go of him yet. He knows, even from his limited experience, that grown-ups playdates mean people talking all the time and doing nothing else, and that's not what he had in mind when his dad told him about having visitors to the house. “Can I show him my room?” He asks his father. Alex is so much smaller than he is and he's probably not that much fun to play with, but he's still better than adults. Also, he's never dealt with small kids before and he can't wait to show off he can be big brother material.

“Uh, yes, if he wants to,” his father says.

Timmy turns to Alex then, offering his hand to him. He doesn't say anything, he just stands there, inviting him to come along. Alex looks at his dad once for confirmation, then he lets go of him to grab Timmy's hand. His grip is very tight, not the grip Timmy was expecting, and despite being a little unsteady on his legs, he seems very determined to follow him wherever he goes, which was pretty much what Timmy hoped; the road to his bedroom will be very long on those tiny feet, so he needs him ready.

“Oh, he likes you,” Leo says with a smile.

“Be very careful with him, Timmy,” His father says in _his voice_ , the one he uses to explain him things that is very important he understands. “Alex is a baby, so be gentle and watch out for him. Do you want me to help you take him upstairs?”

“No, I can do it.” Walking very slowly, he leads Alex towards the stairs and they slowly but steadily starts to climb them, one step at the time. The staircase going upstairs is very long, but Alex seems very determined to conquer it on his own tiny legs, holding Timmy's hand with his left and the baluster's spindles with his right. Once they finally get to the top of the stairs, Alex dusts his hands with a satisfied air to himself and says, “Done.”

Timmy leads Alex to his bedroom, which is a little further down the corridor. The kid follows him willingly, but refuses to let him go, which is fine because Timmy likes to hold his tiny hand. Once they get there, he is expecting Alex to be as shy as he was downstairs, but he really is not. He takes only a few moments to take in the room in front of him and then he quite literally unleashes himself upon it, chuckling in joy.

Timmy's room is really tidy to be the bedroom of a six years old. His father taught him at a very young age that he has to put back everything he played with once he's done with it. All his toys are either in white plastic boxes neatly stacked around the room or, in the case of board games, they are piled up on one another on the bookcase, which still contains that part of his children books collection he still likes to read. Alex makes a beeline to the first box he see that's at his level and runs to it, wobbling a little and making all kind of bubbling sounds. He grabs the lid and literally throws it away behind his back – so much for the tiny fragile baby – and starts rummaging in the box. Timmy had expected to show him around with some sort of logic – first his books, then his trains, then all his action figures and so on – but he understands now that Alex might really be too small to understand that, so he welcomes the random way he's experiencing his bedroom, by taking out everything at the same time.

“What did you find?” He asks, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to him.

“A _disosour_!” Alex shows him a plastic T-rex, that's currently wearing a bow tie that Barbie's lent to him. He's a very fancy dinosaur indeed.

“That's Mr. T-Rex,” he explains to him as Alex slams the toy repeatedly against the box in an uncontrollable surge of joy. It makes a good sound, Timmy thinks, that's probably why he's doing that. He could be jealous, but he's not. Among the many toys in the room, Alex chose Timmy's most favorite one of all time. If that's not a sign of how much they will get along, Timmy doesn't know what is.

*

Alex put him in a car right after breakfast, destination unknown. About twenty minutes before getting to this place – wherever it is – he demanded to blindfold him and then drove on ignoring the fact that Timmy was sitting there in the passenger seat with one of the foulard Alex painted himself over his eyes. Timmy tried to understand where they were going, but it was hard to even get the sense of the general direction when the road was completely straight. He only knows they left the highway at some point because the wheels of the truck stopped making that soft, lulling rustle on the asphalt and started crunching pebbles, which means they have followed a country lane for a while. Now they're parking the car on grass, though.

“Can I—“

“Not yet.” Timmy can hear the amusement in Alex's voice as he says that.

He opens the car door for him and helps him out. He grabs his hand to lead him. Timmy can hear bird chirping and a dog barking in the distance, but not much else. This is not a city, there's no traffic here, no busy streets with shops and bars and people coming in and out of them. At least nobody is seeing him walking around blindfolded – even though he wouldn't care even if someone did. He stopped worrying about people's judgment a long time ago, if he ever did; especially when he's doing something Alex asked him to do. He would do anything in front of anyone for him.

“Listen, if you like to be a little kinky,” he says, “there was no need for the long ride. We could have stayed at home and work something out.”

“ _If_ I like to be a little kinky?” Alex says, and Timmy hear keys tinkling. “You know very well I like to be kinky. But what I want to do couldn't be done at my parents' house.”

“Uh, so it really is something _bad_.”

Alex chuckles. Timmy likes that sound because it's one Alex hardly makes in front of everybody else. He's not a sulky person, but he's a bit detached among other people – even those he's known for a long time – and he's always very controlled. He can be funny and witty, but he's never really outgoing. This kind of relaxed, open attitude is only for Timmy. “Well, it is a little bad, but not the kind of bad you're used to,” he says mysteriously.

“You're killing me, now.” Another one of those chuckles. Timmy could remain blindfolded forever just to hear them.

Alex is currently living in New York, in Blaine's old studio flat. He's waiting to finish fashion school and start working for real, possibly on his own fashion line. Timmy temporarily works and lives on Vince and Cody's new farm in Galena and he's saving up to buy his own farm somewhere in between there and his parents' house in Lima, so he'll be able to visit everybody with a couple hours ride. Timmy has a very specific plan. He wants to live his life working the land; something that literally _horrifies_ both his parents as one of them is very dramatically a millennial and the other one is the poster boy of the net-generation. Two individuals born and raised in an idea of work as distant as possible from manual labor. 

“Now, be careful, there's a little step,” Alex says to him, leading him through a door. 

“I'm starting to think that I might be in danger,” Timmy says, playfully. “How far are we from the city? Will they hear me scream?”

“A lot. And no,” Alex leads him a little further. The light inside changes. It's a bit darker in here and a bit chillier too. A room that's been closed for a long time, Timmy thinks. “But don't worry, if I ever want to kill you, I'll do it watching you in the eyes, otherwise it ruins the whole thing. I'm a man who likes to deliver his vengeance face to face.”

“Oh, do you do that often?”

“More than you think,” Alex says. “Now, are you ready?”

“I've been born ready, baby.”

Alex smacks him on the head. “Shut up! You're so corny,” he protests. Timmy hears the soft creak of something being opened and the light changes again. Then, Alex takes his blindfold off.

For a moment, all Timmy sees are shadows on the wall in front of him. Then, once his eyes adjust to the twilight, he can finally take in the big room, the huge old-style farm stove in a corner, the fireplace and the stone stairs going to the upper floors. The walls are white plaster and there's a wooden beam ceiling above their heads. It looks like one of the many farms they visited in Tuscany just to dream about how Timmy's own was going to be. This one is right here in Ohio and it looks almost exactly like the one he wants.

“Obviously it needs a lot of work,” Alex says, grabbing his hand again and leading him to the next few rooms. Some of there are completely empty, some still retain the old furniture, all of them have terracotta flooring. “The walls need painting, all the fixtures have to be changed and the windows need double-glazed units because it's very cold at night. And the plumbings are a real mess, there are leaking pipes literally everywhere. But it's really big and very bright. Oh! And the stables are new, they only need a quick paint job. Come, I need you to see something.”

Before Timmy can say anything, Alex drags him up the stairs. “There are five rooms on the second floor. So, we can have the master bedroom here, two big guestrooms and a bathroom. And maybe a studio in the fifth one. Or three guestrooms and two bathrooms, and then we can make a small one-room studio on the third floor, which maybe is a better idea. And it's not over yet, babe. Come!”

Timmy looks at everything with huge, awe-filled eyes, like a kid in a candy shop, and lets Alex drag him downstairs again and then out and around the building, where there's another one, smaller but equally astounding. “This was an annex. I thought it could be a small bed and breakfast. They're way easier to manage than inns and we wouldn't talk about big numbers anyway. We're still in the middle of nowhere, after all. But, I asked around and there are a few international fairs around here, and people always need a place to stay when they attend those. The land comes with the farm. They are about 250 acres, which my father says is good enough to begin with. What do you say?”

Timmy is still looking at all the land around that seems to spread as far as the eye can see, even if he knows that 250 acres stop way before that. “It's amazing,” he answers, genuinely in awe. “I didn't even know there was something like this around here. I mean, I've visited a few farms that were on sale, just to get an idea of what was on the market, but they were so not what I want. I'm looking for something more...”

“European,” Alex finishes for him. “That's why I thought this was perfect. The owner is French and he had it made like this. He designed it himself. He would love to sell it to another European. Now, you don't count as one, but I do, so it's okay. He said he can get us a good price.”

Timmy looks at him. “Babe, I can't afford something this big,” he says, smiling sadly. “Right now, I couldn't even afford a farm that's half the size of this one.”

“But do you like it?”

“It's perfect,” Timmy corrects him. “It's as close as you can get to the idea I have.”

“Then we can buy it.”

Timmy sighs. “Babe, I would love to, but I don't have this kind of money right now,” he explains. “I will get there eventually, but it's not the right time yet. And I don't want to ask my fathers for money.”

“You won't have to. I will pay off half the amount with the money Mr. Leone left me and then we'll get a mortgage to cover the rest,” Alex explains.

“Absolutely not! I won't let you put that money on the farm. You are supposed to use it to start your own business.”

During high school, Alex had worked in a bookshop for about three years. It was a very small shop that sold mostly art books about Florence and a few used books. He had come across it by chance, one afternoon, and while he was browsing through the shelves, he had started unconsciously tidying them up, sorting books by genre and author. The owner was an old man called Leone, who initially hadn't taken very well the fact that he was moving his books around, thinking Alex was just a kid messing around in his shop. But when he had seen what good job he had done, he had offered Alex a job and Alex had accepted it because he desperately needed one. Mr. Leone had no family and he had gotten close to Alex over time. So, when he passed away – a few months before Alex moved to the United States – he had left him all the money he had, including the proceeds from the sale of the bookshop. It would have been a lot of money for anyone, but especially for an eighteen years old. So Vince had suggested him to put them away in a savings account and to use them later to start his career. It was a good advice, and Timmy is not gonna let Alex use it for anything else.

Alex smirks, crossing his arms to his chest. “But that's exactly what I'm going to do,” he says. “I'm going to _invest_ in the farm and turn part of it in my own fashion studio. So, while you breed animals and grow vegetables, I'll be on the third floor, designing and sewing my own fashion line."

Timmy looks at him in confusion. “What? But I thought you wanted to be in New York, like, being a fashion designer and everything.”

“I actually don't,” Alex says, honestly. “I mean, I want to be a fashion designer but I don't think I need to be in New York for that.”

Alex has always dreamed of working in fashion, but he doesn't want to be part of the fashion world the way all his classmates do. He doesn't want to become the next Philipp Plein. Maybe something more like the new _Aurore Van Milhem_ , but not even that. He wants his own small studio, where he can create his collections in peace and find the perfect costumers for them. What he wants is to literally _make_ his clothes, not the show and the glory that are behind a certain kind of fashion industry. In his own way, he just wants to work with his hands too, even though not with as much mud and animal manure as Timmy does.

“Don't you? Isn't it New York where the fashion... magic happens?” 

“And in Paris, Milan and to a certain extent in Tokyo too. But that's not the kind of thing I want to do,” Alex shrugs. “I want to try and do my own thing. Besides, I want to be with you and it's hard to have a farm in Time Square.”

Timmy looks hesitantly at him, torn between happiness and fear of allowing Alex to do the worst mistake of his life with his own selfishness. “I don't want you to change your life plan for me,” he says eventually, careful to choose the right words. 

“You are my life plan, Timmy.”

“And you are mine, but you know what I mean," Timmy insists. "This farm, this right here is my dream. You have yours to pursue and I don't want you to give up on that for me. That wouldn't be fair.”

“Oh, but I would never do that,” Alex chuckles. “It's like you don't know me at all. When in my life have I ever done less than what I exactly wanted to do? This really is the perfect place for me. It's going to be a tiny studio. Me and maybe a couple of assistants. I'm gonna start very small, a dozen pieces of clothing per collection, not more. A custom-made service, perhaps. Everything handmade. And I'm going to sell exclusively on-line, cutting much of the costs for everybody. I'm not sacrificing myself here. If anything, I'm hijacking your dream to reach mine faster and you should tell me to fuck off.”

Alex is the most hard-headed person Timmy knows. He's even more stubborn than Tana, which says something. When Alex wants something, he goes and gets it, now as twenty years ago, when he went straight to Timmy's toy box and uncovered it to discover its treasures. He would never be the kind of man who gives up on his dreams or puts his own life on hold for someone else. Alex does not compromise on what he wants and needs. Timmy knows it first hand because Alex made him choose between him and Tana. Alex was not going to be _the other guy_ forever and he was ready to give up on him if Timmy had not chosen him. Alex is made of strong ideas and determination. He's resilient and self-assured. If he says he wants this, then Timmy can be sure Alex really wants it.

“I think _I_ wanna do that,” Timmy says with a smirk.

“What?”

“Fuck you,” Timmy says as he pulls him into his arms. “Wanna go for the good ol' love-in-the-barn scenario?”

Alex laughs. “Seriously?” Timmy nods and kisses him. “Don't I deserve a little change after twenty years of straw in my hair for weeks?”

“I love you when you've got straw in your hair,” Timmy whispers on his lips, pulling him towards the barn and hoping there's still a little straw left in it.

Timmy showed Alex his house when he was six, he watched over him and took care of him – or at least he tried to before falling in love and making a mess. Twenty years have passed and Alex is showing him the house where they are going to live together, leading him by the hand the same way Timmy once did. Timmy is not to old to want him anymore and Alex is not too young to give himself to him. Those four years that seemed so much back then have officially no meaning anymore. They are going to buy a farm and turn it into their own little kingdom, where they will be together, living off what they make.


End file.
